Paddy Tutty

Tracks & Notes

• Island Spinning Song is a work song from the Scottish Hebrides. Probably originally in Gaelic, it speaks of the spinning wheel as the fortune telling 'wheel of fate'.
• Lough Erne, a northern Irish song also known as the Rambling Irishman is a song of emigration and parting.
• George Sand's, or Bourrée d'Aurore Sand, is a traditional dance tune from central France, named for the nineteenth century writer who was so far ahead of her time.
• All Among the Barley is an English song celebrating autumn and the harvesting of barley, the brewer's staple. Another in the fine old family of John Barleycorn songs!
• The Prairie Pagans (Norm Walker) The hunting of the crocus is an old prairie ritual that I know from my own childhood. It is our true Herald of Spring! The prairie crocus is actually a "pasqueflower", paler and subtler than its namesake, camouflaged in the prairie grasses.
• The Tankard of Ale is an English country dance tune.
• The Man Behind the Plough is one of many songs in the folk tradition applauding the farmer. This song, written in 19th century Ontario by Thomas V. Westendorf, places the farmer in the company of urban cultured classes defending his role as worker. .
• Wild Hog is an Appalachian version of Sir Lionel, a ballad from the Child collection. It is obviously an ancient story chock full of iconology and intrigue.
• Mina's Waltz (P. Tutty) was composed in memory of Mina Forsyth, a Saskatoon artist and teacher who was extraordinary in her inspired energy and love of life.
• The story of Fair Annie, reaching back as far as the 11th century, is common in Scandinavian and Scottish lore. This version of the Child ballad is a compilation of British and American texts from the singing of Peter Bellamy.
• Woodland (P. Tutty) is a bourrée named for the urban wood where I live. It is stirring to realize how nature continues to thrive in the heart of the city.
• Land on the Shore is a traditional Appalachian hymn, also known as Our Meeting is Over.